'Climate change impacts need top priority'

摘要

Prof. Drewes: Well, research in water and wastewater covers a lot of aspects, but I believe it is fair to say that the German water research is well positioned internationally both regarding basic research and applied research. This is expressed not only in a representative number of publications in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of our field compared to other countries with a strong water research community, but also in management approaches and technologies, which were developed in Germany, that are being adopted and applied in other countries. I think this is an important aspect since it demonstrates that research being performed in Germany doesn't just have impact in the scientific community but it also matters to practicing engineers and decision makers outside Germany. Of course, there is always room to grow, for example publishing more of the outcome of large research efforts in peer-reviewed international publications and promoting German research findings on international platforms (i.e., professional associations, conferences), but overall I feel the water research being performed in Germany is making important contributions to the international water research agenda.